Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Surprised by James Warlick\’s Decision to Discus Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in Tbilisi

YEREVAN (Arka) — Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharian is surprised by the decision of the OSCE Minsk Group U.S. co-chair James Warlick to hold a discussion on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem in Tbilisi, the capital of neighboring Georgia, without the participation of the parties to the conflict.

“With whom Warlick is going to discuss the Karabakh conflict in Tbilisi? It is impossible. There is a special format for discussing the Karabakh issue,’ Kocharyan told reporters in Yerevan today. The Karabakh peace process is being handled by the OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France.

Earlier Sergey Minasian from the Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute, who represents Armenia at the Tbilisi meeting, told ARKA that the Tbilisi meeting will be closed for reporters and will look into the so-called Madrid Principles, designed to help the parties to end the long-running conflict without use of force, respect for the territorial integrity of the states and the right of nations to self-determination.